Final Fantasy 7 Remake isn’t just a technical reimagining of the 1997 classic, it’s also a cultural one. When it launched last year, a number of players noticed that Square Enix was being surprisingly inclusive in how it depicted LGBTQ+ themes and identities.
It was a welcome inclusion, and we recently had a chance to talk with co-director Motomu Toriyama to talk about the importance of such exploration in modern media, and how Final Fantasy 7 Remake hoped to embrace it in a way the franchise never has before.
Related: "We Want To Challenge Ourselves – Square Enix Hints At Final Fantasy 7 Remake's World Map
“I think that expressing diversity with LGBTQ inclusion is an important issue for everyone involved in making content, not just people making games,” Toriyama-san explains. “In Final Fantasy 7 Remake, we rebuilt the original game using the latest technology, but we felt that it should not stop at the technical side and we needed to update the story content being shown in line with modern sensibilities.”
Seeing a Japanese developer speak so candidly about the importance of queer representation is so refreshing, and it seems that western blockbusters such as The Last of Us Part 2 are having a notable influence on a global scale. “The Last of Us Part 2 really delivered on its consideration for diversity,” Toriyama-san tells us. “Right down to the UI, and I would imagine that the cost of debugging on that game was massive. However, having achieved that makes it a great game that sets a benchmark for the industry.”
It remains unclear if Final Fantasy 7 Remake 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) will delve deeper into LGBTQ themes, but it seems Square Enix is confident in its continued exploration of political themes and their obvious parallels to the real world. In terms of how ambitous the next game will be, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi told us that the team wants to "challenge" themselves in creating something that builds upon the original game while also taking into account what the remake hopes to achieve in terms of characters and narrative.
Next: Ratchet And Clank – Rift Apart Shows The Value Of An Easy Platinum Trophy
